1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computerized methods and systems for providing location-sensitive services in conjunction with a wireless communications network. A particular aspect of the present invention relates to a computerized method and system of matching persons through their mobile stations on the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, telephone calls over a wireless communications network must be initiated by a user who dials another person""s phone number. Although the calls may be subsequently forwarded to different phone numbers using call forwarding, etc., without the caller""s knowledge, the caller usually must know the phone number of the person he or she wishes to call and must initiate the call. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,972 to Emery et al. There is no known method or system for matching persons on a wireless network.
Several methods and systems currently exist for generally matching people having similar interests or other reason for willing to be put in contact with each other. For example, computer dating services match people using a large database having a profile for each one of their customers. Each customer""s profile contains personal information such as age, race, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, religion, height, weight, color of eyes and/or hair, smoking habits, education, interests, etc. This matching profile is used to match the customer with others. In addition to their own matching profile, each customer can also submit a request which contains their preferences for a match with the matching profiles of other customers. In response to the request, the computer dating service searches the database for matching profiles which match the preferences in the request and then informs the requesting customer of the selected matches, if any. The match is typically recorded by some sort of a printed report.
Similar computer dating services currently exist on the Internet. These services receive profile data and display information over the Internet and contact their customers via e-mail. They also may give their customers screen names so that matched persons can initially correspond with each other via e-mail without revealing their identities. An example of such an Internet dating service is BestDate.com. (The date on which BestDate.com was first publicly used is not known and is not admitted to be prior art.)
Unfortunately, there is a lack of immediacy to such computer dating services. Although geographical information such as each person""s address is stored and a matching request can specify a geographical area, the dating services cannot ensure that a person is located in the requested geographical area at the day or time of the request or that the person is available and desires to be matched at the time of the request. There is also a problem that matches are only selected in response to a request therefor from a customer.
A possible real-time alternative is a wearable device which detects when another similar device is nearby. For example, Phillips Electronics N. V., has proposed so-called xe2x80x9chot badgesxe2x80x9d which are pre-loaded with personal information. It is described that the badges signal each other when they store similar personal information and are within short radio range of each other. It is apparently intended by the short radio range that the wearers will be close to each other and can initiate a conversation with each other. These hot badges appear to be conceptual and futuristic in nature and not adequately disclosed in the manner necessary for one to design and manufacture the badges.
Belgium Patent Application No. 09700119 filed by Linda van Cappellen appears to describe similar devices. However, these devices also suffer the disadvantages that they have a limited radio range and must contain enough memory to store the personal information and the processing circuitry necessary to operate the device and to determine whether nearby devices store similar personal information.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to initiating contact through the handset of a person in a manner sensitive to the location of the person in a cell or other area of a wireless communications network. In a particular aspect of the invention, persons are matched with each other.